A Kia Picanto for $80,000?

I've had the good fortune to work with and spend time with my colleagues from Japan, ,Korea and Singapore. It's fascinating to learn about their culture, history and local differences. One that amazes me every time it's discussed is the vehicle licensing process and costs in Singapore.

The Singaporean government recognizes that traffic is a serious issue in the city and has instituted a series of measures to reduce the number of cars and the costs to operate and license a vehicle. There are several:

• Electronic Road Pricing: Essentially this is a toll that rises as does traffic. Start early and it's cheap. Wait until rush hour and the price goes up
• Vehicle Taxes and Registration Fees: These are typical, though a bit high, for all countries and run ~$1,000/year/vehicle
• Certificate of Entitlement (CoE): This is the big one. The CoE has a variable price, based on current vehicle growth, supply and demand, but presently goes for around $70,000 USD. This is a "right" to purchase a car and must be owned prior to the purchase. The license is only good for 10 years and must then be repurchased to continue having license to operate the car.

Adding the cost of license, tolls, CoE, not to mention insurance, gas and maintenance, just to get in the least expensive model available, the Kia Picanto, the cost would run a person nearly $80,000 USD. Some other vehicle prices includ an Audi A4 1.8 $182,000 (including COE), BMW 328 $238,000 (including COE); Mercedes 200E $201,902; Volvo 940 Turbo Estate 2.0 (A) $160,753.

Consider that next time you look at new car models.